My site is right next to the wooden boardwalk that takes you over the small dunes, so I have a very short walk to the ocean. They do not like you walking across the vegetation in Florida because it protects against storms and hurricanes.
I enjoyed a short walk yesterday just before dark as the tide was going out, but it was getting cold and I did not walk as long as I wanted to.
This is a fairly large sandpiper of some sort I followed, but I cannot find out for sure in my little Audabon book exactly what kind he or she is. [Turned out to be a willet in breeding plummage, per my bird-son, below.]
a willet, i think. ugly plumage this time of year
ReplyDeleteThanks. I wondered if it was juvenile or female plummage because it did noy quite match any of the photos I saw. The Audabon book does not list all plummages: their photo and description showed grey and black! I checked the internet, and it makes sense that this is adult breeding willet plummage. It was one of the larger shore birds wandering around.
DeleteEasiest identification I made was when I almost ran down a flock of snowy egrets in my RV! Black bills and black legs were right in my windshield. Luckily I missed them all, but it was quite startling.